CAD CAM Monthly eNewsletter

There are two different ways of letting smartphones or tablets communicate with controls: by devising a downloadable app that communicates with the control network, or by creating a mobile-enabled Web site that provides information...

A permanent, "bricks-and-mortar" tradeshow that showcases exhibitors such as job shops, inventors, and component manufacturers, The Manufacturing Mart in Cleveland, Ohio, is hosting its "Putting a Face on Manufacturing" Expo...

Paul Kuchuris, AME's new president, and Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative, want to bring jobs back to North America and guide schools to produce skilled workers trained...

Some newer (and even some more-experienced) designers and engineers never consider whether the 3D CAD component they have just created is actually manufacturable. The assumption is...

While at Loughborough Univ. in the U.K., student Jake Tyler worked on a cardboard vacuum cleaner with designers from floor-care-manufacturer Vax as part earning a degree in...

Fab Labs for DIY manufacturing bring digital fabrication to everyone from hobbyists to inventors, entrepreneurs, displaced workers, small-business owners, and individuals in workforce-development...

Since the inception of design-analysis software, there’s been a strong connection between the amount of computing power available and the way users mathematically model — or simulate — product designs.

Suppose, while working for your employer, you come up with a patentable idea. Further suppose you do it on company time and with company money. But when you came onboard, you never signed...

In a recent interview on NPR, Dow Corning CEO Robert Liveris freely acknowledged that Dow has plants all around the world. But he emphasized America needs to continue making things within its...

Although a structure might be relatively simple, engineers should still consider its weight during design. Consider a simple tripod structure. The frame supports a light fixture weighing 1,500 lb and it...

Imagine how a 3D printer that builds food items could help people lose weight by giving them an easy way to monitor their food intake. Pablos Holman, an inventor at Intellectual Ventures, built such a device so people...

Each year in the fall, SolidWorks comes out with a new version of its 3D mechanical CAD software. And each year many of us sit on the edge of our seats in anticipation. A program as complex as SolidWorks makes...

Many of the newer cruising sailboats in the 40-ft-and-up sizes are built with double headstays in the bow with one roller furling located behind another. The forward roller-furling stay carries a big Genoa jib. The next...

The time it takes an inventor to secure a U. S. Patent currently averages over three years. But for patent applicants who want to speed up the process, here are some practical tactics that can wring...

For our annual How-To issue, there is perhaps no subject more topical in this dicey economic climate than how to charge up innovation. Many would argue that innovation starts at the top. If the CEO doesn't...

Desktop-engineering applications increasingly have their own online social-networking communities. Consider, for example, the new DraftSight application from Dassault Systèmes, which also includes widely used engineering...

Toronto snowmobile racer Shawn Watling was using cardboard, string, and stacks of paper to dial-in his new method to power snowboards when an engineer buddy turned him on to software from Dassault Systemes...

Some engineers may think of the iPhone as just a fad for youngsters who like to IM, play games, and take pictures with their phones. Not really. The iPhone can be a useful engineering tool and there seem to be more engineering apps every day. Here is a...

With U.S. unemployment still hovering above 9%, there is a lot of hand wringing about innovating our way out of economic malaise. If the economy can create enough start-up companies, so the...

Until now, manufacturing aero turbine blades necessitated the use of investment casting, electrical discharge machining, and multi-axis CNC milling. No longer. Researchers at the...

When it comes to products that involve human contact, aesthetic qualities such as warmth, appearance, and softness help build product image and brand. Mechanical design and ergonomics...

Even if you don't leave your current job, you will gain greatly from learning what it means to be an entrepreneur and taking steps to become one. What's an entrepreneur?

Finite element analysis has become a standard tool for ensuring the structural integrity of components such as turbine blades and diesel engines. So why do auto companies pay huge...

One of the best ways to get kids interested in a topic, whether it’s engineering or astronomy, is to give them a toy or game that helps them explore that subject. Just don’t tell them it’s...

Electronics manufacturer Cisco, Irvine, Calif., is trying to make devices such as wireless routers, media hubs, and audio systems more aesthetically pleasing...

Freehand sketching provides a natural, efficient, and convenient way to visually represent ideas. It also mimics drawing with pen and paper, a big advantage over traditional window, icon, menu...

The last few years have shown progress in finite-element analysis intended for use by design engineers. Many programs...

Have you heard of Modelica? It is an open-standard, object-oriented, equation-based language for the modeling of complex physical systems...

In the interest of efficiency, Intelligent Fluid Solutions used on-demand design, CFD, and optimization software at dezineforce.com to create...

Until recently, simulation would lag detailed design because 3D models did not exist until designers finished the CAD models required for simulation. To break this chicken-or-egg dependency...

Probably nothing gets shop personnel cursing faster than trying to machine Inconel 718. The hard alloy rapidly chews through cutting tools. Casting Inconel is...

The design of devices such as ink-jet nozzles and piezoelectric fuel injectors and the control of these devices, depending on their operating conditions, demand an in-depth understanding of multiphase flow. Of interest are the...

Back in the 1940s, economist Milton Friedman was part of the war effort. He performed statistical studies on high-temperature alloys for jet engines.

It started innocently enough during a late-night online poker game. A flashing sign claimed I could get a free flat-screen TV just by clicking a little pink button.

Probably nothing gets shop personnel cursing faster than trying to machine Inconel 718. The hard alloy rapidly chews through cutting tools.

In last month's e-newsletter, I waxed poetic about a stone sculpture made up of intersecting circular forms that lay in different axial planes. The sculpture was designed in 3D CAD and then sent to China to be carved out with a waterjet.

3D CAD has is pushing the envelope of how artists create. For example, the recent AU in Las Vegas showcased a Bruce Beasley sculpture comprising intersecting circular forms that lay in many different axial planes.

Recently, I was invited to follow a fellow CAD colleague on Twitter. The microblog lets you send brief messages of 140 characters or less called "Tweets."